In a typical electrophotographic machine (e.g. copier, duplicators, printers, etc.), a continuous loop of photoconductor film is commonly used to transfer an image from an input section onto a receiving medium (e.g. a sheet of paper). The film is initially charged and then passes through an input section where an image (i.e. analog or digital) is projected onto the charged film. The film then moves through a developing section where a toner is applied to the charged image, and on through an image transfer section where the image is transferred to the sheet of paper or other medium. The paper is subsequently passed through a fuser section where the toner forming the image is fixed to the paper by elevated temperature and pressure. This is typically accomplished by passing the paper between two, opposed rollers in the fuser section, i.e. a pressure roller and a fuser roller, one of which is heated.
In fuser sections such as described above, the nip between the pressure and fuser rollers is very tight. To insure that the paper will continue on through this gap and not stick to one of the rollers, "skive plates" (i.e. upper and lower skive plates) are normally provided to strip the paper off the rollers (i.e. fuser and pressure rollers, respectively) after the toner is fused onto the paper. Each plate carries a plurality of thin, extremely sharp "skives" (i.e. blades) (e.g. 0.004 inches thick) which effectively ride on its respective roller. These plates are rigidly mounted near the rollers at a precise location and angle to provide the proper stripping force without digging or gouging into the roller. As will be appreciated in this art, during assembly and service of the electrophotographic machine, the skive plates are frequently removed and then reinstalled. During this operation, the skive plate must be guided so that the sharp skives do not gouge the roller.
In known, prior art machines of this type, the installation of such skive plates present a number of problems to a service technician. First, there is nothing in the fuser section which prevents the skives from touching and possibly damaging the rollers during while the skive plate is being removed/installed. Further, there is no "fool-proof" procedure to be followed during the removal/installation of the skive plates. That is, the lower skive plate is not installed by a single straight, in-and-out movement but requires some manual adjustment before it is secured in its final operable position. A competent technician can be trained to follow the exact motions required to prevent contact between the skives and the roller but the possibility of human error is always present in operations of this type.
Still further, a cooling grill, which is used for cooling the paper as it comes off the rollers, is an integral part of the lower skive plate in prior art machines of this type and is coupled to the cooling air duct by a gasket which exerts a high frictional force on the underside of the lower skive plate. This frictional contact with the gasket makes it difficult to slide the lower skive plate smoothly out of and into its operable position.
Accordingly, those skilled in this art will recognize the need of simplifying the installation of the skive plates in the fuser section of an electrophotographic machine and making such installation effectively "fool-proof" to prevent the accidental gouging of the pressure and fuser rollers during the installation. Further, this fool-proof removal/installation procedure should be capable of being carried out by any trained technician without the need of special tools.